Tandem Studios reaches 40th

Iconic central Christchurch business Tandem Studios
is celebrating its 40th month (subs June 2014). Since its
inception as a music studio in 1974, the Christchurch
company has grown to become the largest producer of online
audio and video in New Zealand. It has uploaded close to
30,000 videos onto YouTube and continues to operate from the
same Oxford Terrace premises it has occupied for nearly 20
years.

“Earthquakes didn’t stop us,” says Tandem
Studios’ Managing Director Dave Dunlay, “in fact in many
ways our business is stronger now than it was before the
earthquakes and we were one of the first Christchurch
businesses that came back into the CBD after the February
2011 earthquake.”

June is the ruby anniversary month for
Tandem Studios, a business that in years gone by has
provided recording facilities for some of New Zealand’s
greatest musical talents, including Anika Moa, Big Runga,
Salmonella Dub, Suzanne Prentice and many, many
others.

Tandem Studios retains its connection to its
musical roots, but it has taken that to a new level by
creating new audio and video and accompanying marketing and
publicity materials using social media channels – a
crucial combination for success in today’s mixed media
world.

“A great example was our work with members of
the Crusaders rugby team, the C-City Brothers, last year. We
recorded the song “Never Walk Away” which went to number
one on New Zealand’s iTunes charts. Importantly, we also
created video interviews with the band members, publicity
material photos, logos, and the music video. We also used
our expertise to coordinate publicity via social media. The
results were outstanding and it was a great fundraiser for
their charity Cystic Fibrosis.”

Tandem Studios are
leaders in the online media environment, says Dunlay. “Web
streaming is now a big part of our business. We have
developed our own system called LABONTM (Living and
Breathing Online News) and we currently provide this service
for Parliament and a number of local and regional councils,
including the Christchurch City Council and Wellington City
Council.

“We also make recruitment, training, induction
and promotional videos for a large range of clients
including Mindfood magazine, Ngai Tahu Tourism and
Trustpower.”

The media world is constantly changing,
says Dunlay, and it is quite an achievement for a media
company to reach its ‘ruby’ anniversary. “If you think
of what else was happening in 1974 in Christchurch – the
Commonwealth Games were on with the new QEII facility having
just been built to host the games, the Christchurch Town
Hall was only two years old. Forty years on and a lot of our
icons have gone. We’re really proud to not only still be
here but to be thriving in the central city and be a part of
the ‘new’ Christchurch.”

As a way of celebrating
its 40th content creation concept called ‘Friday Night
Sessions’. This will involve a 30-minute live stream of
two up and coming bands or artists every Friday night in
June from Tandem’s central city studios.

“Streamed
through YouTube, we will record it and then present audio
and video from the stream to the bands to share and use as
they will.”

Dunlay believes that this type of online
entertainment production is close to a tipping point in that
if it is done well and good publishing techniques are used
to promote it, it can grow to become successful and
profitable. “We will be creating a sub-brand for this
proactive content creation called 'In Tandem - a creative
hub'.”

Dunlay’s vision for Tandem Studios involves two
main work streams. “One is working as a client’s audio
and video agency and planning, producing, and publishing
their digital media.

The second is proactive creation of
content for information and entertainment online and for
social media. In tandem with the work we are commissioned to
provide for clients, we will now be developing content
ourselves. We believe that the opportunity is there for us
to collaborate with anyone with a message to convey or
talent to share, and to use our expertise in online
production and publishing to help bring the audience to
them.

“Change is a constant in our industry. We have
proven that we are innovators and that we embrace change
rather than fear it. We can’t wait for what the next 40
years will
bring.”ends

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